Black Duck closure marks end to sister's fight

A KINGAROY mother-of-two broke down into sobs yesterday on hearing the news that her campaign to close the motocross track where her brother was killed was now over.

Tracey Blinco, 28, openly wept at what is the official end of a tumultuous two years that has most recently included the death of her father from a “broken heart” and the birth of her second child.

Brother Ricky, 23, never returned from an overnight camping trip on January 16 with a childhood friend at the besieged Lockyer Valley four-wheel-drive and motocross track known as Black Duck Valley Park.

His four-wheel-drive was found a crumpled wreck at the base of a 200-metre drop from a cliff just hours later, and Ricky Blinco never stood a chance.

“It (the park closure) is the best news I've heard . . . it's really good news that while we've lost somebody, no one else will go through this from that park ever again,” Ms Blinco said.

“Those kind of places are great, but you shouldn't be allowed to just get on a bike.”

There were another 285 reported injuries at the recreation facility between June 2005 and April 2008.

State Coroner Michael Barnes said the deaths of Mr Blinco and Mr Last were preventable and there was great risk of further deaths under the then management practises.

Ms Blinco said losing Ricky had severely shaken the family, but her father Glenn never quite got over discovering the circumstances behind his “best mate's” death.

“The sad thing is that Dad passed away. We don't know why - there was nothing wrong with him. He just died in his sleep. We think it was a broken heart. I used to ride and it's fantastic, but it has to be in a suitable environment and perhaps not a combination of motorbikes and 4WDs.”

While we've lost somebody, no one else will go through this ever again," Tracey Blinco said.